RFID tag printer meets European standards

SmartLine 5000r MP2 and SLPA7000r MP2 achieve standards body EPCglobal's Gen2 certification

Printronix has launched new printer and applicator systems to enable firms to produce radio frequency identification (RFID) wireless tags that comply with new industry standards. The company said its SmartLine 5000r MP2 and SLPA7000r MP2 print systems are the first to achieve standards body EPCglobal's Gen2 certification.
"It's a platform rather than a printer and this announcement is more significant for companies operating in Europe, because it encodes EPCglobal Class 0, 0+, 1, Gen 2, and Philips UCode 1.19 RFID tags," said Brad Jarvis, Printronix director of product marketing.

The MP2 range also uses Printronix XML (PXML), an XML-based printer schema that allows XML commands to the printer and vice versa. "This enables software developers to create XML applications that can be used to manage a company's RFID printers and other devices," said Jarvis.

According to research by the University of Arkansas in the US, RFID significantly improves stock control. In a report published in October it said there was a 16 percent fall in out-of-stock products at Wal-Mart stores that used RFID tools to track products throughout their shelf life.

The study also found RFID-enabled stores tended to carry less excess stock and replaced out-of-stock items three times quicker than branches without RFID. However, experts have noted that RFID deployment can cause problems in other areas of the business - for example, requiring an increase in storage capacity to handle the RFID data that needs to be collated. Companies may also have to increase network bandwidth, to speed backup of data to near-online or offline storage.